URGENT CALL TO ACTION: Pending Illegal File Sharing Legislation Harmful to Higher Education

cyang — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 16:05:06 -0600

Leaders of the House Committee on Education and Labor have just introduced legislation to control illegal file sharing in higher education as part of the College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2007. The higher education community opposes a provision that requires campuses to develop new institutional plans for addressing infringement activities on their networks.

Please call (do not write or email) the offices of the House Committee on Education and Labor. Time is short. Markup is this coming Wednesday, November 14, 2007 at 9:00 AM.

For specific details please see our talking points.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

1. Coordinate your response to this challenge with your institutional executives and federal relations officers.

2. Call, do not write or email, as many of the Committee Members as possible, and express your strong opposition to this proposal. You can find a list of all the Committee members and their phone numbers.

Remember, if your campus representative is a member of this committee, you have special influence. We request that you make every effort to contact their office! When calling, ask for the staff member in charge of higher education and leave a voice mail if necessary. Call back later and try to speak directly with a staff member.

Access additional information on the relevant legislative language, talking points, and a template response to use.

URGENT CALL TO ACTION

hwachs — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 15:58:58 -0500

Colleagues,

The following call to action has been sent to all EDUCAUSE Primary Reps on behalf of ACE, AAU, NASULGC, and EDUCAUSE. Please help us with IMMEDIATE CALLS or EMAILS, there is no time to waste!

Best regards,

Mark Luker

Vice President

EDUCAUSE

____________________________________________

TO: Institutional Primary Reps

RE: EDUCAUSE Urgent Request

URGENT, ACT TODAY: AMENDMENT HARMFUL TO HIGHER EDUCATION

Dear Colleague,

I am writing to ask your help in a matter of urgency to higher education in general and the IT community in particular: U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) intends to offer a very harmful amendment, involving illegal file sharing, to the Higher Education Reauthorization Act when the Senate turns to this issue on July 22-23. The amendment can be found at <http://tinyurl.com/2x45d2>. The amendment:

* Makes the Secretary of Education an agent of the entertainment industry;

* Requires the Secretary to take action using data given to her by the entertainment industry that is terribly inaccurate;

* Requires targeted colleges and universities to plan for implementing a "technical solution" to illegal file sharing that does not yet exist for many campus environments;

* Is aimed only at colleges and universities, and NOT other Internet service providers;

* Ignores the fact that the higher education and entertainment communities are working together to develop a mutually acceptable technological solution to illegal file sharing, a process that should be allowed to continue without interference from the Federal government;

* Ignores the fact that the bill already contains a provision that requires all colleges and universities to submit an annual report to the Secretary of Education providing details of the education and enforcement strategies being used on campus to reducing illegal file-sharing; and

* Is yet another attempt by the Federal government to dictate the day-to-day operations of colleges and universities.

It is important that your institution (CEO, government relations official, and yourself) CALL today, not write, your state’s U.S. senators’ staff members for higher education issues and tell them how much higher education opposes this amendment. Please also call Senator Reid’s office (202-224-3542), Senator Edward Kennedy’s office (202-224-4543), and Senator Michael Enzi’s office (202-224-3424). Thank you for your help.

EDUCAUSE will provide you with further information when it is available, but please do not wait to make your calls.